Watching fat people who "eat like birds"* shovel it in while saying "I just look at food and the pounds leap to my thighs" has taught us that people who think they are eating nothing are delusional and have very, very selective memories.

Breatharians have simply turned normal human stupidity and denial into a religion. (Forget I said that. We don't need another religion thread.)

*The humming bird, for one, must eat continuously or die. Most birds can eat their own weight several times a day.

Some breatharian excuses:

It doesn't count if I don't see it.It doesn't count if it's liquified or a beverage.There are no calories in midnight snacks.I was just being polite / trying to not stand out in the crowd.I'm allowed an occasional treat but there aren't any real nutrition in this stuff.Sure, I eat food sometimes, quite often actually, but I am getting all my nutrition from love, air and fresh water, with maybe a quart of vodka added for flavor.Spies creep into my hut at night and force-feed me this stuff, which they then bury under the corner of my mud hut for the next time.

Seriously, one South Asian breatharian guru was found to have food buried under the corner of his hut. Another, Australian breatharian was caught eating on an airplane--a preordered meal.

Many breatharians die of malnutrition--those are the ones that don't know you are supposed to cheat every chance you get.

She's quite full of vitriol, calling people names like "hater" and claiming we're all insecure. I would have thought the "being accepting of others' opinions" lesson would have come before the "living on sunlight" lesson.

Jubeebee:I'd be curious to know how breatharians suppose that humans derive energy from sunlight and air. Do they think that humans have secret chloroplasts?

My understanding of their philosophy is that your body will go looking for other sources of energy when it runs out of food fuel. If you believe strongly enough that your body can do it, it will start to use light as energy. Kind of The Secret mashed together with other New Age woo and a gross lack of science knowledge.

Jubeebee:buckler: Jubeebee: I'd be curious to know how breatharians suppose that humans derive energy from sunlight and air. Do they think that humans have secret chloroplasts?

Midichlorians.

From the wiki, I'd suspect they wouldn't know the difference.

The answer is magic, obviously. I should have known that.

They do it the same way any other quack does. They'll deny science, reason, and evidence in favor of their own desire to feel different or special. In all cases, they're either a scammer trying to grift stupid people, or one of the stupid people who got grifted and refuse to admit they're wrong.

In the case of pseudo-medicine/nutrition, they'll either realize that they're wrong (and quit), die, or rationalize some form of cheating to continue doing it.

My favorite was my aunt, who truly believed in the power of healing crystals.... Right up until she got strep throat. It didn't take long before she quietly went to the doctor and all those "crystals cure everything!!!" posts stopped showing up on my Facebook.

Coolfusis:Jubeebee: buckler: Jubeebee: I'd be curious to know how breatharians suppose that humans derive energy from sunlight and air. Do they think that humans have secret chloroplasts?

Midichlorians.

From the wiki, I'd suspect they wouldn't know the difference.

The answer is magic, obviously. I should have known that.

They do it the same way any other quack does. They'll deny science, reason, and evidence in favor of their own desire to feel different or special. In all cases, they're either a scammer trying to grift stupid people, or one of the stupid people who got grifted and refuse to admit they're wrong.

In the case of pseudo-medicine/nutrition, they'll either realize that they're wrong (and quit), die, or rationalize some form of cheating to continue doing it.

My favorite was my aunt, who truly believed in the power of healing crystals.... Right up until she got strep throat. It didn't take long before she quietly went to the doctor and all those "crystals cure everything!!!" posts stopped showing up on my Facebook.

I remember back in the 80's, when "healing crystals" were all the rage in some circles, a guy on alt.slack (the USENET Subgenius newsgroup) bought up a truckload of third-rate quartz crystals for a few cents a pound. He advertised them as healing crystals in the backs of new-age magazines, charging some $20 a pop, and made a mint on the suckers.

buckler:Coolfusis: Jubeebee: buckler: Jubeebee: I'd be curious to know how breatharians suppose that humans derive energy from sunlight and air. Do they think that humans have secret chloroplasts?

Midichlorians.

From the wiki, I'd suspect they wouldn't know the difference.

The answer is magic, obviously. I should have known that.

They do it the same way any other quack does. They'll deny science, reason, and evidence in favor of their own desire to feel different or special. In all cases, they're either a scammer trying to grift stupid people, or one of the stupid people who got grifted and refuse to admit they're wrong.

In the case of pseudo-medicine/nutrition, they'll either realize that they're wrong (and quit), die, or rationalize some form of cheating to continue doing it.

My favorite was my aunt, who truly believed in the power of healing crystals.... Right up until she got strep throat. It didn't take long before she quietly went to the doctor and all those "crystals cure everything!!!" posts stopped showing up on my Facebook.

I remember back in the 80's, when "healing crystals" were all the rage in some circles, a guy on alt.slack (the USENET Subgenius newsgroup) bought up a truckload of third-rate quartz crystals for a few cents a pound. He advertised them as healing crystals in the backs of new-age magazines, charging some $20 a pop, and made a mint on the suckers.

Oh god. She was convinced that the color and size of the crystal meant they could cure different things. When I told her about the placebo effect, or that she was paying $10-40 on crystals that were chemically no different than the ones I picked up at a souvineer shop in Alaska for 10 cents a piece, she would just call me "closed minded" and stop the conversation.

I'm always tempted to be an asshole and ask her why she no longer wears a little purple one as a necklace anymore.

Maybe she lives in a place where the air isn't healthy enough. Like those hungry people in the Sahara. She should spend her early mornings down at Monsanto. She could breathe in just the right amount of chemicals that her body could convert or store to sugar. Then walk over to the metal works. Get some iron for her blood. Early afternoon, go down the the nuclear plant and soak up some isotped air. Just the pick me up for and afternoon of deep breathing at the paper mill (cellulose which is a kind of sugar. Sure. Why not?)